The Social Media Phone Drone

Social media is more important to our generation than food and water. There are billions of people worldwide who are addicted to one or another social media site. Many an hours are spent updating statuses, trending and sharing data. As if social media via computers was not enough; along came smart phones with all their fancy features and connectivity. Now, the social media freaks can stay updated on the go. No more limitations to computer usage at the expense of moving around. Sounds good doesn’t it? Well it’s not.Social media usage on your smart phone is a hazard in more ways than one. Let’s take a look at some facts now, shall we?

47% of social media users do it through their smart phones. Moreover, four out of every ten smart phone users are hooked to social media applications.Mr. Facebook is the most popular free app. There are 147.2 million monthly active users of Facebook on iPhone and a whopping 192.8 million on Android! Increased usage of signals and airtime result in slow service from operators as well the down fall of your phone’s battery. Facebook mobile signal and airtime usage has increased considerably after November 2012, and during this time, the number of Facebook users has increased by a mere 4%.

Americans is the highest users of mobile broadband in the world. In the meantime, the data cost is on a decline and calculations indicate the mobile data usage to grow twenty times by 2017! Considering all the famous social networking sites, the annual cost of being actively social is $ 2,480; which might not seem much, but has a deeper impact on other important things than your wallet.

Driving under the influence of alcohol (even the legal limit) is bad, under the influence of cannabis is really bad; but do you know the factor that is deadlier than these two? No? I’ll tell you. It’s using social media on your phone. Ha! While legal limit alcohol and cannabis slow down the driving reaction time by 12.5% and 21% respectively, social media usage slows it down by 31%. Unbelievable but true. Hold on, there’s more. Drivers using a mobile phones increase their chances to crash four times. That’s risk quadrupled.

Over usage of social media takes a heavy toll on health too,as studies indicate that social media addiction is one at par with drugs. Technology facilitates us in many ways; and yes, it’s nice to be connected and accessible on the go, but there is a method to the madness. There are ways that you can benefit from technology and still not be a threat to others and most importantly, to yourselves. Take a close look at the infographics to learn about and avoid the hazards of using social media on your phones. Just owning a smart phone is not enough amigos. You have to act a little smart yourselves too!